“We’re looking”: Amid Rangers takeover rumours, Alistair Johnston’s AGM remarks now seem highly intriguing.

Amid the sudden reports of American investment in Rangers – via Paraag Marathe and the San Francisco 49ers – the comments made by Alistair Johnston back in December suddenly feel a lot more prescient.

Johnston was speaking at the club’s Annual General Meeting two months back.

A former Rangers chairman who now operates as a non-executive director at Ibrox, the 76-year-old Scot spoke out about how one of the two twin powerhouses of Scottish football could look to reduce the cavernous financial gap between themselves and Europe’s more deep-pocketed competitions.

The English Premier League, specifically.

Of course, the first argument many draw up is Rangers and Celtic moving south of the border and joining forces with England’s top flight. Rangers and Celtic’s women’s teams held talks regarding a potential switch to the Women’s Super League south of Hadrian’s Wall, but the chance of their male equivalents doing the same remains highly unlikely.

So Rangers, Johnston said, would have to look at other avenues.

Alistair Johnston comments look very interesting amid Rangers takeover talk

Interestingly, the 76-year-old Glaswegian brought up those new-fangled, and always contentious, ‘multi-club models’.

Manchester City, for instance, headline the City Football Group. The CFC also contains the likes of Troyes, New York City FC and Girona, their sister clubs frequently benefitting from those Etihad connections.

Girona secured Champions League qualification for the very first time last season with four former Man City men in their squad.

Manchester United’s own majority takeover – led by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe – has led to speculation that the Red Devils could take a leaf out of City’s book.

Johnston, by his own admission, travelled France and met Ratcliffe face to face. His Ineos group also control Nice and Swiss outfit Lausanne Sport. And with the financial gulf between the haves and the have-not-so-much’s of European football growing all the time, Johnston’s message was clear.

Either Rangers modernise and embrace the new way of doing things, or risk getting left behind.

“I was in Nice and had lunch with several friends and directors there, and the owner there is Jim Ratcliffe,” Johnston said, via the Daily Record. “Through his company, [Ratcliffe] has authority of Manchester United. But he basically owns everything else.

“For example, everybody knows Manchester City’s got clubs under its umbrella. I think that’s one we may be looking at more carefully.”

Paraag Marathe and San Francisco 49ers eye Ibrox takeover

Interestingly, Johnston also acts as the vice-chairman of IMG, a leading sports and entertainment group in the US.

The American connections at Rangers are expected to grow considerably, with The Sun reporting that Marathe and the San Francisco 49ers have held ‘advanced’ and ‘detailed’ discussions with the bosses at Ibrox.

The consortium at the heart of a potential takeover reportedly see ‘huge potential’ in The Gers.

Of course, this does not necessarily mean Rangers will find themselves becoming a pawn in a larger game. Scotland’s answer to Girona, for instance. A club with such a history would presumably resist such an idea. The fans certainly would.

But Marathe, interestingly, is already the chairman at Leeds United. A Leeds side in whom Red Bull also own a minority stake. Now, Red Bull were clever enough to avoid attempting to re-brand this proud old institution as ‘Red Bull Leeds’, or transform Elland Road into the ‘Red Bull Arena’.

They are also slightly apart from the Leipzig, Salzburg umbrella.

Yet, with Marathe likely to arrive on the stage at Ibrox, so soon after Johnston spoke about the need for change behind the scenes, the intriguing comments the former chairman made at that December AGM certainly make for very interesting reading in hindsight.

“We’re looking right now at different issues as to whether or not club formations can be a pathway for us,” Johnston added. “We’ll look for [chief executive] Patrick Stewart to provide advice on that. I want the new chairman and new CEO to look at the big issues.

“Why do we get such poor media money? Why do club finishing in bottom of Premier League get 28 times more than we do?”